Ping-Pong Buffer System Having a Buffer to Store a Subset of Data from a Data Source

1. An apparatus, comprising: a first buffer to store a set of data provided by a data source; and a second buffer to store a subset of the data, wherein (i) the set of data is to be provided for a data requestor from at least one of the first and second buffers while the subset of the data is being overwritten in corresponding locations in the first buffer, (ii) the subset of the data is copied between the first and second buffers, and (iii) the second buffer is not overwritten until the subset of data is received by the data requestor.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first buffer is to receive the set of data from the data source, the subset of data is to be copied from the first buffer to the second buffer before data is overwritten in the first buffer, and the data requestor is to receive (i) the subset of data from the second buffer and (ii) the remaining data from the first buffer.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the subset of data is to be copied from the first buffer to the second buffer after the locations in the first buffer that correspond to the second buffer are filled.

4. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein a data ready signal is to be provided after the first buffer is filled.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the data ready signal is to be provided to an arbiter unit.

6. The apparatus of claim 2 , further comprising: a de-multiplexer to receive a block of data from the data source and to sequentially store the block of data in the first buffer, wherein the subset of data comprises a number of data blocks.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus is associated with at least one of: (i) a packet network, (ii) a local area network, (iii) an Ethernet network, (iv) a switch, and (v) a router.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus is associated with at least one of: (i) an application specific integrated circuit device, (ii) a field-programmable gate array device, and (iii) a custom integrated circuit.

9. A method, comprising: storing in a first buffer a set of data from a data source; copying a subset of the data from the first buffer to a second buffer and not overwriting the second buffer until the data requestor; and providing the subset of the data from the second buffer to the requestor and the data from the first buffer to the data requestor while the subset of data is being overwritten in the first buffer.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein said copying is performed after the locations in the first buffer that correspond to the second buffer are filled.

11. The method of claim 9 , further comprising: providing a data ready signal after the first buffer is filled.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the data ready signal is to be provided to an arbiter unit.

13. A method, comprising: storing a first subset of data from a data source in a first buffer; storing data of the first subset in a second buffer, wherein the second buffer is smaller than the first buffer. providing a data ready signal to a data requestor, and overwriting the first subset in the first buffer with a second subset of data from the data source while providing the data from the first subset stored in the first buffer and the data stored in the second buffer to the data requestor.

14. An apparatus, comprising: a storage medium having stored thereon instructions that when executed by a machine result in the following: storing in a first buffer a set of data from a data source, copying a subset of the data from the first buffer to a second buffer and not overwriting the second buffer until the data is received by a data requestor, and providing the subset of the data from the second buffer to the data requestor and the remaining data from the first buffer to the data requestor while the subset of data is being overwritten in first buffer.

15. A switch, comprising: an Ethernet interface; and an arbitration system, including: a first buffer to store a set of data provided by a data source, and a second buffer to store a subset of the data, wherein (i) the set of data is to be provided for a data requestor from at least one of the first and second buffers while the subset of the data is being overwritten in corresponding locations in the other buffer and (ii) the subset of the data is copied between the first and second buffers and the second buffer is not overwritten until the data is received by the data requestor.

16. The switch of claim 15 , wherein the first buffer is to receive the set of data from the data source, the subset of data is to be copied from the first buffer to the second buffer before data is overwritten in the first buffer, and a data requestor is to receive (i) the subset of data from the second buffer and (ii) the remaining data from the first buffer.